Ministry of Education Releases Guidelines for Grade 10 Learner Placement in Kenya
The Deputy Director of the Education Ministry, Fred Odhiambo, has detailed the criteria that the ministry will use for placing learners in Grade 10.
Speaking on Wednesday, April 23, Odhiambo stated that the selection of senior schools for Grade 10 learners will be organized based on the pathways and facilities, which include day and hybrid senior schools, gender, and special needs.
Learners, who are currently in Grade 9, are anticipated to move on to Grade 10 in 2026, which signifies the beginning of the senior school phase under the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
Under CBC, the placement procedure for Grade 10 learners relies on their performance in the Kenya Junior Secondary Education Assessment (KJSEA), which they are scheduled to take between October 27 and November 5, along with their selected career pathways. The three pathways consist of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM); Arts and Sports Science; and Social Sciences.
Senior schools included in CBC are classified as either triple pathway schools, which will offer all available pathways, or dual pathways, which provide STEM, arts and sports science, or social sciences.
As per Odhiambo, learners will be required to select 12 schools for their chosen pathways in the following manner: four schools in the first-choice track and subject combination, four schools in the second-choice subject combination, and four schools in the third-choice subject combination.
Of the 12 schools that learners choose, nine must be boarding schools – three from the learners’ home county and six from outside their home county – while three should be day schools located within their home sub-county.
As noted by Odhiambo, the placement of learners into Grade 10 next year will depend on five distinct factors.
At the forefront is the learners’ choice. The ministry will take into account the learners’ preferences for pathways, tracks, subject combinations, and schools.
The second factor is merit, where the ministry will evaluate the learner’s academic achievements in their Grade 9 assessment.
The third factor involves psychometric testing, which will assess the learner’s aptitude, interests, and talent identification, administered by the Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) and the schools.
The fourth factor is equity, where learners will be assigned to schools based on regional balancing to ensure equitable access to institutions throughout the country.
Finally, the agency will assign a learner according to the resources and capacity of the chosen school.
